The present invention relates to apparatus for indicating when a container has been tampered with and more particularly comprises a cover affixed to a container with a conventional cap on the closure end of the container.
Recent events have dramatically demonstrated the need for improved tamper-resistant containers to prevent adulteration of the products in the containers. Heretofore, various closure devices have been developed which require the tearing of the cap placed on a container to effect opening of the container. Such closure apparatus are illustrated in Hutaff, U.S. Pat. No. 2,109,699; Langecker, U.S. Pat. No. 3,434,613; Faulstich, U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,860; Hermann, U.S. Pat. No. 834,906; Studer, U.S. Pat. No. 3,112,838; and Vido, U.K. Pat. No. 1,079,417. In each of these patents, the closure cap is either partially or entirely torn away. Consequently, the closure cap is either destroyed during the removal process making it impossible to reseal the container utilizing that cap or must have a special configuration so that a portion of the cap will be unaffected and can be used to reseal the container. None of these references show a cover for placement over the top of a container already having a cap thereon so that the cover prevents access to the cap.
In Sakurai, U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,417, a heat-shrinkable sleeve for closing a container is disclosed. However, the sleeve is provided to be placed underneath the cap. Hence, it would be impossible for a consumer to readily observe whether the sleeve had been removed or was still in place without removing the cap from the container. Consequently, the consumer could purchase a tampered with container and not know it.
By contrast, the present invention provides a cover which can be positioned over any of a number of different containers with conventional non-tamperproof caps thereon to effectively make the container tamper-proof. As such, the manufacturer's bottle retains its identity in the eyes of the consumer. This is particularly true where the cover is provided to be either translucent or transparent so that the cap and top of the container can be observed by the consumer through the tamper resistent cover.
More specifically, the invention includes a cover which may be either a dome-shaped shroud member or a heat-shrink shroud member which covers the top of a container including the conventional cap closing the container. At the lower edge of the shroud portion of the cover, a safety band which is a thickened annular portion made out of the same material as the upper shroud portion, is provided to extend into an indent in the container. The safety band is made of a different color or has indicia on it that define indicia which do not appear on the shroud portion of the cover so that when the safety band is removed, it will be obvious to a consumer by merely observing the container.
Indeed, in order to remove the cover, a consumer must focus his attention on the safety band in order to effect removal of the safety band. Since, any tampering with the cover of the present invention would result in damage to that very safety band, the consumer's attention will focus on the very item that must be effected by tampering. Hence, the consumer will be more likely to notice tampering.
The cover, in accordance with the invention, is such that when the pull member is pulled, the safety band tears in such a way as to cause the cover itself to also tear along annular tear lines which may either have a circular or a helical configuration. In accordance with the invention, the safety band is heat bonded or adhesively bonded to the container annularly at the indent in the container so that the cover cannot be removed without tearing the safety band and hence the shroud. Therefore, once the pull tab has been pulled, the safety band and shroud of the cover will be torn making it impossible to repair the cover and replace it on the container without making such repair efforts obvious to an observer. Such attempts to repair would be a clear indication of tampering whereas a lack of damage to the cover would be a clear indication that the container had not been tampered with.
It will also be appreciated that by making the safety band of a different color or with different visually-observable indicia than the remainder of the cover, any attempt to remove the safety band and then replace the cover will be easily observable to the consumer since the different-colored safety band will be missing.